Artificial nail having improved adhesion properties and shape retention properties

ABSTRACT

Provided is an artificial nail having an enhanced adhesion and a shape-keeping property. An artificial nail with an exposed part 11a exposed to an outside and an adhesive surface 11b adhered on a real nail is characterized in that an adhesion pattern 12 is formed on at least one portion of the adhesive surface 11b, and the least one portion has different heights along a longitudinal direction LD or a width direction WD1, WD2 in regard to a base surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an artificial nail having an enhanced adhesive and shape-keeping property, in particular the artificial nail to adhere closely on a surface of a real nail and to maintain such condition for a long time.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

The artificial nail has an advantage to enhance aesthetic appearance of a hand, but may have a problem that a bad effect of a chemical substance may be made on a skin around the nail because the artificial nail is made of a polymer and is attached with some chemical adhesive. And also, various bacteria or germs may be generated if a gap is made between the artificial nail and a real nail and moisture soaks into the gap. Therefore, it is necessary for an artificial nail capable of overcoming such problem to be made. Korean patent registration no. 10-1919951 discloses a flexible artificial nail. And PCT publication no. WO 2009/119963 discloses an artificial nail with a plurality of section. The known inventions have an advantage that the adhesive property between the real nail and the artificial nail may be improved by making a shape of the artificial nail corresponding to that of the real nail. But a partial separated area between the real nail and the artificial nail may be generated in an adhered condition because of the non-uniformity along a longitudinal direction or a width direction of the nail. Therefore, it is necessary for an artificial nail capable of solving such problem to be made.

The present invention has a purpose to solve the above-mentioned problem as below.

PURPOSE OF THE INVENTION

One purpose of the present invention is to provide with an artificial nail having an enhanced adhesive and shape-keeping property between a real nail and the artificial nail by forming an adhesive pattern on at least one part of an adhesive surface of the artificial nail.

Other purpose of the present invention is to provide with the artificial nail with an improved aesthetic property by maintaining an adhesive property of the artificial nail to a real nail and a curved shape of the artificial nail in a course of a human activity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment of the present invention, an artificial nail comprises an exposed part exposed to an outside and an adhesive surface adhered on a real nail, and is characterized in that an adhesion pattern is formed on at least one portion of the adhesive surface and the least one portion has different heights along a longitudinal direction or a width direction in regard to a base surface.

In other embodiment of the present invention, the adhesive surface becomes a curved surface along the width direction.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the artificial nail has a bending property based on a center line of the longitudinal direction.

In still another embodiment of the present invention, a guiding part is formed an inner side of the adhesion pattern.

In still another embodiment of the present invention, at least one portion of the artificial nail is made of at least one material selected from a group consisting of an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, a polyurethane, an acryl, a polypropylene and a polyethylene.

In still another embodiment of the present invention, a section of the adhesion pattern along a horizontal direction become a plurality of polygons, a plurality of ellipses or a plurality of circles.

In still another embodiment of the present invention, the adhesion pattern has a protruded shape, and the height of the adhesion pattern becomes decreasing gradually along the longitudinal direction or the width direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an artificial nail having an enhanced adhesive and shape-keeping Property according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of various adhesion patterns according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of an adhesive surface structure along different directions according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of an artificial nail set according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an artificial nail having an enhanced adhesive and shape-keeping property according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an artificial nail comprises an exposed part 11 a exposed to an outside and an adhesive surface 11 b adhered on a real nail, and characterized in that an adhesion pattern 12 is formed on at least one portion of the adhesive surface 11 b, and the least one portion has different heights along a longitudinal direction LD or a width direction WD1, WD2 in regard to a base surface.

The artificial nail 10 may comprise various decorating articles capable of being adhered on at least one portion of a real nail, and the real nail means a human tissue for protecting an end of a finger. The artificial nail 10 may have a shape corresponding to at least one portion of the real nail, and comprise the exposed part 11 a having a flat shape in general and exposed to the outside, and the adhesive surface 11 b adhered on an outer surface of the real nail. The artificial nail 10 becomes a curved shape corresponding to a shape of the real nail along the width direction, hence, the adhesive surface may become a curved surface with a large curvature radius. The adhesive surface 11 b may comprise a base part 15; a guiding part 14 connected to the base part 15 and extending with a predetermine width along the width direction WD1, WD2; and the adhesion pattern 12 formed at an upper part of the guiding part 14. Selectively, a separating tab 16 may be formed for easily removing the artificial nail 10, if necessary. The guiding part 14 may become a groove shape extending with a predetermine width along the width direction WD1, WD2, and may have a thinner thickness relative to that of the base part 15. The guiding part 14 is made as the groove shape and at the same time the thickness of the guiding part 14 is thinner than that of the base part 15 or that of a portion where the adhesive pattern 12 is formed, thereby, the artificial nail 10 may be bent easily along the width direction based on a center line, and may have a larger elasticity. The artificial nail 10 may be bent more easily along the width direction WD1, WD2 than along the longitudinal direction, and can be recovered resiliently into an original shape. And the adhesion pattern 12 may be formed at the upper part of the guiding part 14.

The adhesion pattern 12 may have a function to improve the adhesive property of the artificial nail to the real nail and to make the artificial nail contact the surface of the real nail closely. And also, the adhesion pattern 12 may prevent a portion of the artificial nail from being transformed in a course of use. For example, the adhesion pattern 12 may prevent the portion of the artificial nail 10 from being transformed by an outer pressure in a course of handling or use. Such shape-keeping property or transformation-preventing property may be generated by a layout structure or an elastic property of material. And the shape-keeping property may improve an aesthetic property of the artificial nail 10 together with the improvement of adhesion property. The artificial nail 10 may be made to have a shape similar to that of the real nail, but the shape of the artificial nail 10 may be different from that of the real nail in regard to a complex outer surface of the real nail. And also, the real nails of all the people may have a similar shape in general, but each real nail of each person may have a minute difference each other. Therefore, the adhesive level of the artificial nail 10 that is manufactured in large quantity may be different depending on each real nail shape. The adhesive pattern 12 may prevent the adhesive property from being degraded owing to the minute differences of the real nail shapes. The adhesive pattern 12 may be formed in various ways to improve the adhesive property, for example, a plurality of pattern protrusions 13_1 to 13_N may be arranged uniformly or non-uniformly on a base surface where the adhesive pattern 12 is formed. The base surface may be a portion of the adhesive surface 11 b forming the upper part of the guiding part 14, and the base surface may have a thickness identical to, thinner or thicker than that of the guiding part 14. Selectively, the base surface and the guiding part 14 where the adhesive pattern 12 is formed may be made as a shape of a staircase with a height difference, or a bordering line may be formed between the base surface and the guiding part 14. A section of the pattern protrusions 13_1 to 13_N along a horizontal direction may have a shape of a polygon, an ellipse or a circle, but not limited to. The pattern protrusions 13_1 to 13_N may have different heights each other, for example, the heights of pattern protrusions 13_1 to 13_N may become smaller from the guiding part 14 to an end of the adhesive surface 11 b along the horizontal direction. And also, the heights of pattern protrusions 13_1 to 13_N arranged along the width direction based on the center line of the longitudinal direction LD may become smaller along the extending direction. The section sizes of the pattern protrusions 13_1 to 13_N may be different each other. As above-mentioned, the heights of the pattern protrusions 13_1 to 13_N may become different each other along the longitudinal direction LD or the width direction, thereby, the artificial nail may have an enhanced adhesive property. And also, the height of the pattern protrusions 13_1 to 13_N may become smaller or different along the longitudinal direction, thereby, for example, a partial separation or a partial peeling phenomenon of the artificial nail 10 such as an exfoliation of the end part may be prevented. The adhesive pattern 12 may be made in various ways, but not limited to.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of various adhesion pattern according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2(a), the adhesive pattern 12 a may comprise a plurality of polygonal pattern protrusions 21_1 to 21_K having an identical section size. The polygonal pattern protrusions 21_1 to 21_K may be arranged on the surface of base uniformly, and the pattern protrusions 21_1 to 21_K may have an identical section size, but different heights. The lower part of FIG. 2 (a) shows a vertical sectional view of the plurality of polygonal pattern protrusions 21_1 to 21_K along the width direction. Side polygonal pattern protrusions 212 may be arranged at both sides of center polygonal pattern protrusions 211 placed at the center, and edge polygonal pattern protrusions 213, 214 having the smallest height may be arranged at an edge part. Referring to FIG. 2 (b), the adhesive pattern 12 b may comprise a plurality of linear pattern protrusions 22_1 to 22_L arranged in a line along the longitudinal direction. Center linear pattern protrusions 221 located at a center of each linear pattern protrusions 22_1 to 22_L may have different heights. And also, the heights of each linear pattern protrusions 22_1 to 22_L may become smaller in a shape of a staircase from the center to the edge along the width direction. The center linear pattern protrusions 221, the side linear pattern protrusions 222 and the edge linear pattern protrusions 223 may be connected each other along the width direction. In the above example, the center linear pattern protrusions 221, the side pattern protrusions 222 and the edge pattern protrusions 223 may be connected each other in a shape of a staircase, but not limited to. The center linear pattern protrusions 221, the side pattern protrusions 222 and the edge pattern protrusions 223 may be connected in a curved shape with the heights being smaller gradually. Referring to FIG. 2 (c), the adhesive pattern 12 c may comprises a plurality of circular pattern protrusions 23_1 to 23_M arranged uniformly, and the center circular pattern protrusions 231 in a shape of a dome may have the highest height, and the side circular pattern protrusions 232 and the edge circular protrusions 233 may have a relatively smaller height. Selectively, the center circular pattern protrusions 231, the side circular pattern protrusions 232 and the edge circular pattern protrusions 233 may have different curvature radii. As mentioned above, the pattern protrusions 21_1 to 23_M may be formed as a plurality of sub-protrusions separated each other, and the height of the center part may become a relatively larger. Thereby, the adhesive property and the shape-keeping property may be enhanced. The adhesive pattern 12 a, 12 b, 12 c may have various shapes and various heights, but not limited to.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of an adhesive surface structure along different directions according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the pattern protrusions 13_1 to 13_N may be formed protrusively from the base surface B. The pattern protrusions 13_1 to 13_K formed on the adhesive surface 11 b may be arranged with the heights smaller from the guiding part 14 to an end part of the adhesive surface 11 b. FIG. 3 (a) shows a sectional view of each pattern protrusion 13_1 to 13_K along the longitudinal direction LD. A protrusion width 13_LW of each pattern protrusion 13_1 to 13_N may be identical or different each other. And a protrusion height 13_LH of each pattern protrusion 13_1 to 13_N may become smaller from the guiding part 14 to the end of the adhesive surface 11 b. For example, Nth and N−1th pattern protrusions 13_N, 13_N−1 from the base part 14 may have an identical height and may have a larger height than the other pattern protrusions 13_N−2 to 13_1, and the height may become smaller gradually from N−2th pattern protrusion 13_N−2 to a first pattern protrusion 13_1. The Nth and the N−1th pattern protrusions 13_N, 13_N−1 may have an identical height, thereby the peripheral part of the guiding part 14 may have a strong adhesive force.

FIG. 3 (b) shows a sectional view the guiding part 14 along the width direction, and the height of the center part may become different from that of the edge part. Specifically, a thickness of the outer surface 142 corresponding to an exposed part may become different depending on a position from that of an inner surface 141 corresponding to the adhesive surface 11 b. The adhesive surface 11 b may have a curved shape generally, and the guiding part 14 forming a portion of the adhesive surface 11 b have a curved shape along the width direction WD1, WD2. Both parts based on the longitudinal direction LD may be symmetrical, and a center thickness TC may become larger than an edge thickness TP1, TP2, and the thickness may become smaller from the center part to the edge part along the width direction WD1, WD2. Thereby, the stable bending property and the elastic property may be maintained.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of an artificial nail set according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, a plurality of artificial nails 10 a to 10 n having different sizes may be formed as a set. At least one portion of the artificial nails 10 a to 10 n may be made of at least one material selected from a group consisting of an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), a polyurethane, a thermoplastic polyurethane, an acryl, a polypropylene and polyethylene. And also, at least one portion of the artificial nails 10 a to 10 n may be formed as such materials, for example, the artificial nails 10 a to 10 n may be formed in an injection molding way or the like. Specifically, the ABS and the polyurethane may be mixed as a rate ABS: polyurethane=10:2 to 100 for manufacturing the artificial nails 10 a to 10 n. Or the thermoplastic polyurethane or the polyurethane may be prepared for manufacturing. The artificial nail set may comprise a base member 42; a plurality of separated branches 41_1 to 41_N formed at the base member 42; and a plurality of artificial nails 10 a to 10 n coupled to each separated branches 41_1 to 41_N by the separating tab 16. Each artificial nail 10 a to 10 n may have a size corresponding to that of a real nail of each finger. And each pattern P1 to Pn with a different shaper or a structure for adhering may be formed at each adhesive surface of each artificial nail 10 a to 10 n. Each artificial nail 10 a to 10 n may have a bending property together a small elastic coefficient. For example, each artificial nail 10 a to 10 n may be bent easily and recovered into the original shape with the small elastic coefficient based on the center line along the longitudinal direction. Specifically, the ABS, the polyurethane, the thermoplastic urethane, the acryl, the polypropylene or the polyethylene material for manufacturing the artificial nails 10 a to 10 n may have a small elastic coefficient. The artificial nail set may comprise a plurality of artificial nails 10 a to 10 n with various structures, and each artificial nail 10 a to 10 n may have various adhesive patterns, not limited to.

An artificial nail having an enhanced adhesion and a shape-keeping property according to the present invention has an adhesion pattern formed on at least one part of an adhesive surface to make the artificial nail adhere closely to the real nail. The adhesion pattern can keep the artificial nail from being transformed with an outer impact and the like in a course of use to maintain the artificial nail in a predetermined shape. Hence, the artificial nail according to present invention may have an improved aesthetic function by a higher adhesive property and a shape keeping property. The adhesion pattern may be formed as corresponding to the real nail, hence, the adhesive condition and the shape of the artificial nail can be maintained regardless of various hand-activity or a passage of time.

The artificial nail according to the present invention may prevent a bacteria or a germ generation by a water invasion within a gap formed between the real nail and the artificial nail, hence an inconvenience of the artificial nail wearing may decrease. And also, the artificial nail according to present invention may be made of a flexible material to be adapted to various nail shape.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An artificial nail with an exposed part (11 a) exposed to an outside and an adhesive surface (11 b) adhered on a real nail, characterized in that: an adhesion pattern (12) is formed on at least one portion of the adhesive surface (11 b), and the least one portion has different heights along a longitudinal direction LD or a width direction WD1, WD2 in regard to a base surface.
 2. The artificial nail according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive surface (11 b) becomes a curved surface along the width direction WD1, WD2.
 3. The artificial nail according to claim 1, wherein the artificial nail has a bending property based on a center line of the longitudinal direction.
 4. The artificial nail according to claim 1, wherein a guiding part (14) is formed an inner side of the adhesion pattern (12).
 5. The artificial nail according to claim 1, wherein at least of one portion of the artificial nail is made of at least one material selected from a group consisting of an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, a polyurethane, an acryl, a polypropylene and a polyethylene.
 6. The artificial nail according to claim 1, wherein a section of the adhesion pattern along a horizontal direction become a plurality of polygons, a plurality of ellipses or a plurality of circles.
 7. The artificial nail according to claim 1, wherein the adhesion pattern has a protruded shape, and the height of the adhesion pattern becomes decreasing gradually along the longitudinal direction LD or the width direction WD1, WD2. 